Alarm Phone Weekly Report 7 - 13.3.2016‏

Dear all

Please find below and attached the latest Alarm Phone Weekly Report:
http://alarmphone.org/en/2016/03/13/weekly-reports-bad-weather-violence-and-ongoing-movements-in-the-aegean/

Best wishes,

Sophie


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Bad weather, violence and ongoing movements in the Aegean

Alarm Phone Weekly Report 7th – 13th March 2016

Despite stormy weather and attempts of the European leaders to prevent
them from coming, refugees continue to cross the Mediterranean and are
able to reach Europe, especially from Turkey. According to UNHCR
estimates, about 9,942 refugees, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and
Iraq, arrived in Greece from Turkey in the second week of March.[1]

While the EU has pressured Turkey to accept a relocation plan that would
make it possible for the EU to return persons that have reached Europe
to Turkey - a plan, that clearly violates international human rights
conventions - the incidents of violence at various locations along the
south-eastern European borders multiply: Several sources have reported
that the Turkish coastguard used violence against travellers[2] , trying
to hinder people from crossing by attacking their boats and burning
their life-vests.[3] Also at the Greek-Macedonian border persons on the
move have had to face violence by border guards, adding to the hardship
they face during their precarious journeys.

Especially in Idomeni, where ten thousands of people are stuck due to
border closures, the conditions for travellers remain unbearable. The
rain has left large parts of the makeshift camps under water. Currently
about 12,000 persons have stranded there and while some manage to leave,
more people keep arriving. The desperate attempt of people to free
themselves from the conditions has been met with repression by
authorities, which has been strongly denounced by some (see
footnote).[4] Three refugees drowned while attempting to cross the Suva
Reka river to Macedonia. Again we want to emphasize that these senseless
human losses could be avoided if there were safe passages for people to
reach their desired destination, for example where they have family and
friends, who can support them. While the European Union, its border
agency FRONTEX and NATO have launched a war against unwanted migrants in
the Aegean region[5], people on the move time and again remind European
leaders “we are human beings”, and ask them to open borders, as in a
recent protest in a camp in Lesvos.[6]

We are constantly in touch with people on the move as well as their
families and friends. Often we receive calls from people who are missing
a loved one. On Thursday the 10th of March, for example, we received a
call from a man who had lost touch with his brother on the 22nd of
January at the Bulgarian-Serbian border. On the weekend, several people
called us about a woman who went missing after having reached the Greek
island of Pasas While the Alarm Phone is mainly a hotline for people in
distress at sea in the Mediterranean, we try to forward cases of missing
people and do our utmost to respond to other distress situations. In
order to explain to people on the move and the public how the Alarm
Phone works, we have recently published two short clips, which you can
find here: http://alarmphone.org/en/intros/how-does-the-alarmphone-work-3/



Summary of cases

In the past week, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 28 emergency
situations, of which 27 occurred in the Aegean Sea and 1 in the Western
Mediterranean Sea. Summaries and links to the individual reports can be
found below.



Western Mediterranean Sea

On Wednesday, the 9th of March 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a
boat in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea. At 11:40pm we
received a call from a contact person with a Moroccan number. The
contact person was on a boat and told us that they had left Tanger at
6pm. We kept in touch with the travellers and informed teh Spanish
search and rescue agency Savamento Maritimo. After 1am on Thursday
morning we could not reach the travellers anymore. The Spanish
authorities searched the boat with a helicopter, but stopped the mission
on Thursday, because they could not find the travellers. It took five
days, but on Sunday, the 13th we finally obtained a confirmation that
the travellers had all survived. They had drifted back to Morocco, where
they had landed on Thursday morning. See:
http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/472



Aegean Sea

On Monday the 7th of March 2016, we were alerted to three distress cases
in the Aegean Sea, near Lesvos. In one case, the travellers were rescued
by the Greek Coastguard to Greece, in the second case, the Turkish Coast
Guard picked up a boat in distress between Dikili, Turkey and Lesvos. In
the last case, we had no direct contact with the travellers, but we were
told that they made it to Greece without any assistance. See:
http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/468


On Tuesday the 7th of March 2016, we were alerted to one boat in
distress in the Aegean Sea. At 7:31pm, we received an urgent distress
call from people on a boat. They were screaming and crying for help.
With the assistance of a translator, we understood that they were about
50 persons, mostly women, and that water was entering the boat. We could
not find out where exactly they had started or where they were going,
but it seems like they had decided to paddle to reach the land. At
8:17pm we called them again and by then, the travellers had made it to
Kastellorizo. They had arrived on a beach, which was far away from the
next village. We tried to call the local police, but without success. We
then tried with the Port Police. They said that they would look for the
people, but only if they had an exact position. Otherwise the travellers
would have to walk. We sent a WhatsApp message to the travellers, asking
them for a GPS position, but the message was not delivered. We could not
reach them anymore and hope that they encountered people on the island.
See: http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/469



On Wednesday the 9th of March 2016, we were alerted to 12 distress cases
in the Aegean Sea near Lesvos, Pasas, Chios, Agathonisi and Samos. We
were active in 8 of the cases. Out of these four were distress cases at
land and four at sea. Three groups stranded on the Greek island of Pasas
and one group on Samos. They were all picked up, and in the Pasas cases
transferred to Chios. One boat in distress with about 85 travellers
headed to Lemnos, but still close to the Turkish Coast was picked up,
but we could not find out by whom and were they were brought. Another
boat in distress on the way to Chios was rescued by the Greek Coastguard
and safely arrived in Greece. In one case, in which the engine had
stopped working, travellers on another boat came to assist by pulling
the boat with the broken engine. In the 4 cases, in which we did not
become active, the safe arrival of all travellers was confirmed to us.
See: http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/470



On Thursday, the 10th of March 2016, we were alerted to 2 distress cases
near Lesvos, in the Aegean Sea. The waves were high and the small boats
of the travellers were in danger of capsizing. In both cases, the
travellers were eventually picked up and brought to Greece. Another
group of travellers, we were informed about decided not to leave Turkey,
because of the bad weather conditions. See:
http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/471



On Friday, the 11th of March 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 1
distress case in the Aegean Sea, near Samos. At 10.45pm we were alerted
to a boat heading to Greece and given their contact number. We managed
to reach the travellers. They told us that they could see Samos, but
they had not internet connection to send us their exact position. At
11.05pm we called the Greek Coastguard and informed them about the case.
They promised to search for the boat. At 11.35pm we reached the
travellers and they told us that they had been rescued. At 11.45pm we
also talked to the Greek Coastguard who confirmed that all travellers
were on a Greek patrol boat. See:
http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/473



On Saturday, the 12th of March 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 4
cases of distress in the Aegean Sea. In one case a man had reached the
Greece by swimming. He stranded without dry clothes, water or food on a
rock formation near Kastellorizo, where he was picked up by the Port
Police. A group of 48 travellers stranded on Pasas, from where the Chios
Port Authorities picked them up. In the two other cases travellers were
in distress at sea, because their engine was not working. Both groups
were rescued by the Greek Coastguard. See:
http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/474



On Sunday, the 13th of March 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 4
cases of distress in the Aegean Sea. 2 cases of distress near Lesvos
reached us in the early morning hours: one involved 60 travellers. They
eventually made it to the Greek island on their own. In the second case,
55 travellers were in distress as they were facing high waves in an
inflatable boat. The Greek Coastguard rescued them. Alerts about the
other two distress cases reached us on Sunday evening. In one case two
women stranded on a rocky part of Samos. Doctors without borders picked
them up. The fourth case was a distress case at sea near Chios. Again
the travellers were in panic because of high waves. However, they
reached land by themselves.

See: http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/475

[1]http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/documents.php?page=2&view=grid&Country%5B%5D=83

[2]https://revolution-news.com/video-turkish-coast-guard-attacks-boat-full-of-refugees/
and http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35794563

[3]
http://infomobile.w2eu.net/2016/03/10/eus-new-gatekeeper-turkey-burning-life-vests-of-refugees/

[4] http://moving-europe.org/2016/03/16/live-ticker-25/

[5]
http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2016/03/11/fabrice-leggeri-directeur-de-frontex-la-turquie-ne-doit-plus-etre-l-autoroute-pour-l-europe_4881160_3214.html

[6] https://twitter.com/luigi_scuotto/status/709134243121778689